Process of manufacturing alkali-metal cyanids.



J. A. KENDALL.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING ALKALI METAL GYANIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5,1910.

1,037,01 9 V A Patented. Aug-27, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l 'INVEN 7'0]? WIT/V55 s y Y A fim fill-FR e1: KENM L v yya i," v i v J. A; KENDALL.

PROGE SS OF MANUFAGTURING ALKALI METAL GYANIDS. APPLICATION r LnDNov. 5,1910.

1,037,019. nted Aug. 27,1912.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 2.

Jam E5 1% FRED KE L hunt. in the count of London. ling3- [applicationfiled November Z 162/ whom it may It-(mccrn lie it known that JALxLsfun-nun mm, a suhjwt ot' the Fine of Great lh-itin and lieland. of 45%Fairniile avenue. Sir

lHH'L invented a new and useful Pi'oci .llaiuilactui'ing.tlltali-Ii'letal Cyani which the following a specification.

This invention relates to the nianutaetui'e ol' illlii i metal cyanitlsby reaction hetneen (.illitili. nitrogen. and alkali. a a hightemperature. and the said invention has tor its :llljttt lo pi'nvidemeans Wherehy the re- (plll'ttl cyanid can he conveniently.etiicientlv.and continuously produced in a condition ol great purity.

According to this invention the nitrogen and the required alkali. metalcontaining mat ter, such as carbonate, 0! hydrate, of polar siuni or ofsodium are "fed in a carefu regulated manner into the lower part of" areaction chaniher, or vessel, containing carbon. and the vapor of alkalimetal c xnnid, tlne to the reaction, passes into a ,ontl nsingehainlici' or WSSth n'hich is provided at its lower part with means bywhich the. liqiulied alkali metal cyanid coi'itlensed passes out. Theaforesa d apparatus is made oi 11l(l-I( oi' cobalt, 0]. other suitablemetal. or alloy. hut pretei'ahly nickel plate. either %as.. 1: rolled,and containing one half of one per cent. of manganese. or plate castfrom melted nickel to which a small quantity of carbon has been added.The plate should he autogeiu usly welded in forming the appaiatus. Theapparatus is heated in a furnao? hooded with the flame. got by thecombustion of hydroearlum gas, 01' oil fuel. the fiaine heing driveninto the furnace by jets of fill so as to completely till it and allow asmall surplus of flame to issue at openings provided for the purpose.

The apparatus. the. furnace hy which it is l'icated. are. pi'ei eiuhlyconstruct d as hereinafter desciihed with reference to the accompany qauing. hutv I do notv limit myself to ie pieeise details which l shalldesc ibe.

Figures 1 and 9 Show the apparatus in ele' vations'at right l eachother, The furnace is shown Fig. 1. out is omitted from F shows amodified detail as her at?" is a side elevation of a i action vessel andcondenser.

Specification of Letters Extent.

, 1930. Serial No. 596.875.

formation). the said in shiineih or provided with a. /I so to term .1huh-- I surromuling the uppe 'eaciion ehauihei'. o:- vessel.

so of coni it i (it) the i and. from this channel or trough, Z) lent anoutlet tube (7 for the liquefied C Y'iUliil. .d tuhe being provined witha flange c ieai its end {to prevent any creepinghacl:

0!, e5anul) and mixing a cup-like iei'nnnu tn screwed onto its end. ontowhich cuplike termination the c vanul trickles. and

ti-uni which it will tall into a receiver.

For the supply of nitrogen. a. tube l so dered into the lOWtl' part oithe reaction chauihei. or vessel. extends upward outside the ieactimiand condensing chambers and is connected at top with the supply oi nitrogen entering h the ipe r7. lnto the said tuhe ll ope! nether lulie Ewhich also extends up\\' This tuhe E is for the admis ion oi the fusedallcali uietal containing n'iatei'ial "which can he supplied to. and heused in. a tunnel (pietcrahly cylin (hi all at the to'pot the tuhe. forexample when using a carbonate: or the Fused alkali metal containingmaterial can he allowed to (hip into the funnel e. for example whenusing; a hydrate. or it can he supplied in the Fm-in ot compressedpellets.

'lhe apparatus is placed in a furnace l so that the reaction chainhei.01 vessel. A. and the lonei" pai't oi the condensingchanihe. or vessel.l"). and the tuhes l) and and the lou'ev pact of the tin ucl c whichreceives the alltali metal contain material. are in the furnace. theupper paitof the condensing (llflllll)(}. or vessel 3 intending tooutside the furnace. so .'f111i(l reaction will escape by its contractedupper opening L and so that fresh supplies thut gases produced in thespace between the condensing chamber, or upper part of this slot/befilled in by a rovessel, and the opening 7' 1n the roof of the l'urnaccthrough which it passes to allow of the passage oi the surplus flamearound the said outlet tube (f, and around the condensing chamber, orvessel, l3. Besides these openings for the escape of flame, I provide anoutlet which can be opened and closed by a movable brick. especially inthe case of a .turnace o'l la rgc size. The furnace is provided withopenings f in lts wall, opposite which openings are burners G and meansfor 'lorein air, with the flames of the burners. into the interior ofthe furnace.

l or preventing the escape oi nitrogen gas through the funnel e .bywhich the alkali metal containing material is supplied, the openingleading from the said funnel into the tube i below it can be closed by aplug ("-1 or the said tube can be made of siphon form. as illustrated atE in Fig. 3. The

said tunnel c can be provided with means .tor passing coal-gas, or thelike, into it to prevent access of air. The pipe 'at- H is forthispurpose. The tube 1), by which nitrogen is supplied, is preferablymade with an enlargenu it u at the part where it emerges from thefurnace, so as to prevent any alkali. which may penetrate into the saidtube, causing (:iJFiITUCilOH to the flow of nitrogen.

The tunnel c for the alkali metal containing material, and the pipe Dforthe nitrogen, can be supported by a clamp I fastened to the upperpart of the condensing chamber, or vessel, B, as illustrated. The outlettube (1, and its cup-like termination C should becso supported as torelieve strain tion. his may be done by means of a hook. J on a chain17' passing over a pulley j and provided witha counterweighb 7' the bookbeing applied to the boss of the cup 0 or to the end part of thecup-like termination 0 of the outlet tube.

The entire apparatus within the furnace is made of metal which willwithstand the action of the materials, and the high ten peratureemployed, preferably nickel with a small percentage of manganese, orcarbon,-

as aforesaid, the parts being autogenously welded together. The furnacemay be made of refractory earthenware and the top may be made ofremovable bricks K. It is preferred to mount ,the reaction chamber, orvessel, A on a disk I of nickel, or the like, sup 'iorted from the floorof the furnace by bricks Z and to put alittle refractory earth on thesaid disk to prevent the reaction vessel adheiriru to it at the hightemperature enn'iloyed. .lhe flame which passes out by the channelaround the'cyanid outlet tube C will keep the cy'anid in the said tubein a sutliciently liquid condition to cause it to flow out. The saidchannel. f can he made as a slot from the top of the furnace and the andcompensate for expansion and contracmovable brick (or removable bricks)when the apparatus is in place in the furnace.

Should the carbon, or the alkali metal containing material, contain anyappreciable quantity of ash, or non volatile matter, means should beprovided for removing such ash, or non-volatile matter, without it beingnecessary to remove the apparatus from the furnace for the purpose. Thismay be done by leading av tube a from the bottom of the reactionchamber, or vessel, A, this tube a passing out through a hole f in thefloor of the furnace, and the furnace being supported on columns, or thelike, which will allow of access to the said tube a and a separateburner can be used at this hole so that the said tube a can be stronglyheated when required. *oW'hen ash, or non-volatile matter, is to berenuived, the temperature ot the furnace is reduced considerably belowthe working heat and a quantity of fused alkali metal containing matteris passed down the tube E which feeds in the said matter, and,if-necessary, some alkaline borate can be added to it. The fused alkalicontaining matter will carry the ash, ornon-volatile matter, out throughthe tube which isheated to the necessary temperature. The said tube maybe closed by a plug of nickel, or other suitable material, duringIIOIll'llll work. or the said tube may have a siphon bend in it.

The reaction vessel A, when in use, is completely filled with carbonwhich should extend up into the condensing chamber, or

vessel, B, so as to partially fill it also.

The temperature required for the reaction I find is 1300 centigrade. A

The condensingvcssel B, instead of being superposed on the reactionvessel A, may, if desired, be situated at the required elevation at theside thereof, as illustrated for example in Fig. 4. The vessel A is madeof such length that its upper part project above the furnace, the to ofwhich is indicated by the dotted line The vessels A and B are incommunication with each other for T allowing the gaseous and vaporousproducts to pass from the vessel A to the condensing vessel 13, whichcan be conveniently effected by two tubes W and X screwed together.

The top of the vessel A is provided with a stopper Y which is removedwhen it is necessary to introduce fresh carbon. The clamp for sup ortingthe nitrogen tube and thopotash unnel can be carried by the upper partof the vessel A. The weight of the condensing vessel B can becounterpoised in order to prevent undue strain on the tubes W' and X.This can be done by inserting two metal pegs (Z) into the upper part ofthe vessel B and connecting to these pegs the chain attached to acounterpoise like that shown in the first arrangement. The parts whichcorrespond with those shown in the other figures are marked with thereference letters.

,}I' claim asmy invention:

1. The method of nmnutacturing alkali metal cyanids which consists infeeding nitrogen and alkali metal containing matter to the lower portionof a quantity of carbon -in a reaction chamber, highly heating thelatter, leading the cyanid vapors upward through the carbon to a heatedcondenser and leading off therefrom in liquid form the cyanid condensedtherein, substantially as described.

The method of manufacturing alkali metal cyanids which consists infeeding n1- trogcn and alkali metal containing matter to the lowerportion of a quantity of carbon in a reaction chamber, highl heating thelatter, leading the cyanid vapors u Yard through the carbon to a heatedcondenser containing carbon and leading off therefrom in liquid form,the cyanid condensed therein, substantially as described.

The method of manufacturing alkali metalcyanids which consists infeeding nitrogen and alkali metal containing matter to the lower portionof a quantity of carbon inv a reaction ahamber, highly ter, leading thecyanid *apors upward through the carbon to a heated condenser an-d ;lealing oll' therefrom in liquid form through a. heated outlet the cyanidcondensed' therein, substantially as described.

4. The method of manufacturing alkali In tal cyanide which consists infeeding nitrogen and at all metal containing matter to the lowerportion. of a quantity of carbon in heating the lata reaction chamber,highly heating the latter, leading the cyanid vapors upward through thecarbon to a heated condenser ing matter to the bottom thereof, highlyheating the reaction chamber, leading the cyanid vapors upward throughthe carbon to a heated condenser and leading off from the latter, inliquid form, the cyanid condensed therein, substantially as described.

(3. The method of manufacturing alkali metal cyanid which consists infilling a reaction chamber and at least partially filling a superposedcondensing chamber with carbon, feeding, to the lower portion of thereaction chambcr a controlled quantity of ni trogen and alkali metalcontaining matter, heating the reaction chamber, leading the cyanidvapors upward. through the carbon to the condenser, and leading offtherefrom, in liquid form, the cyanid condensed therein, substantiallyas described.

In testimon whereof I have signed my name to. this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAl-dES ALF tED KENDALL.

Witnesses EDWARD Gnonon Davin-s, Gunner FLETCHER Tyson.

